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I LOVE this show.
And I cannot believe they only made one season of it. In fact, they didn’t even show all the first season episodes on television. WTF? I’d never heard of it until a couple of years ago when nursemyra was visiting and bought me a copy of Serenity, a follow-up film they made a couple of years after the television series was cancelled. It’s a wonderful “space western” full of action, snappy dialogue and a really terrific cast of characters.
A couple of weeks ago Jessica lent me her Firefly DVDs before she headed out for a month of field work at Doñana. I finished watching them last night and felt quite bereft, though I do still have Serenity to watch again…
What are some of your all-time favourite television programmes?
casa azahar 
I am so glad you like it! One of my favorites is the episode with the female con artist, when she “marries” the captain. In general, I love the snappy dialogue. On another note, looks like the month at Donana is going to be extended because of the extremely crappy weather 😦
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That’s my favourite episode too – because of the poison kiss – but not the one given by the con artist 😉
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I’ve never heard of it.
I was irate when they pulled “Kings” before the first season even finished. It was a fantastic series. And, of course, since they didn’t even finish the first season, I won’t be able to rent a DVD. AND because of certain network’s policy, I couldn’t even watch the episodes I missed when they moved it all over the schedule because you can’t watch online unless you live in the US, even though they air it on a Canadian network.
The CBC does that all the time. They move a program all over the schedule so you can’t find it, and pre-empt it for hockey and then cancel it because no one was watching it.
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Oooohhh… Alan Tudyk is in it. I really like him. He was in the film “Death at a Funeral” (the British version).
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Gad, wasn’t Death At A Funeral funny? Alan T. was mahvelous in it.
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I’ve never seen Death At A Funeral but I think I’ve seen it listed on my pay-per-view … AND I get one free movie a month! So I think I may watch that one today as I am feeling quite crappy with a miserable cold.
Mudhooks, if they put Kings out on DVD it should include all the episodes. The Firefly set even includes the original 2-hour pilot which was scrapped due to idiotic decision making from TPTB. Hang on…
Here is is on Amazon.ca: Kings – the complete series. So it should be available to rent too.
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I shall have to look for it.
There is another “Death at a Funeral” an American remake about an African American family. However, Peter Dinklage, who played the “unwanted guest” in the original reprises his role in that. James Marsden plays the character Alan Tudyk played in the British one.
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Oh geez, I have the series DVDs (packed away, dammit) and just put them on my netflix instant watching queue because I started missing them. I love(d) that show. Are you following Nathan Fillion? He’s not quite as charming in real life as he is on Firefly, but really,who would be?
I did NOT pack the Serenity movie away – saved out a Star Trek, the SciFi Dune series, and Serenity out of our hundreds of movies.
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As well as Firefly, I can highly recommend Deadwood and True Blood.
And have you ever seen that old Canadian satire The Newsroom? It’s hysterical!
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I LOVED Deadwood and absolutely hated True Blood. Got about as far as episode 4 of TB before throwing in the towel. I don’t know why, just found everyone annoying, esp Anna Paquin.
Have never seen The Newsroom. Just googled it and saw it started a few years after I left Canada. Looks good.
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Deadwood was great, too. I have to rent that at some point, too.
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All-time favourite TV programme? Uummmm… The Next Generation would probably be part of it. Some of Michael Palin’s travelogues are pretty nice, and Mythbusters which I have discovered lately.
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I didn’t watch any tv for about fifteen years, then got this service that allowed me to watch programmes in original version – that was about three years ago. I’ve become an unabashed (albeit discerning) tv addict ever since. Haven’t seen any of the series you mentioned.
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Az, what’s the service you use? I’ve never heard of such a thing (but then we don’t have any kind of cable)..
I’d agree with Firefly, absolutely. And if you haven’t seen (British sitcom) Spaced, you should.
Other stuff I can watch endlessly: West Wing, Chuck, Battlestar Galactica and all versions of Wallander.
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It’s not cable. It’s a service offered by Telefónica and the television comes via the adsl router. So I get internet, tv and free local & national calls for about 35€ a month. There’s a button on the tv remote that changes the audio so you can hear either the original or dubbed version.
Have never seen Chuck, Battlestar Galactica or Wallander, but I am waiting to hear if I have got Jessica hooked on West Wing.
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I haven’t had a TV for more than 10 years as well; I mostly watch series on DVD, or when visiting friends who have a TV. But basically I’m not much up to date with TV series.
The Next Generation is Star Trek; maybe it’s an unusual way to refer to it.
Michael Palin’s travelogues started out in the late 80s with Around the World in 80 Days, where he followed Phineas Fogg’s route and showing the audience the places he crossed on the way. That was fascinating! You can find out more about this journey and others at http://palinstravels.co.uk/index.php
And mythbusters, that’s the science series where two guys take some sciencey myths (How many balloons are needed to lift a 40 pound child off the ground? Can jumping into a ceiling fan cause a person to lose his head? etc) and put them to the test, to see if they are confirmed, plausible or busted. I think they tried all the McGyver stuff! Typically a “don’t do it at home” show 😀 /-€
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Never got it myself. People raved about it but I just found it unwatchable, especially Nathan Fillion who has all the acting skills of a brick, it also has a tendency to show it’s influences very badly – Han Solo meets the basic Wagon Train in Space concept of Star Trek. Another nail in Joss Whedon’s post Buffy career. Along with Doll House the guy is batting 0-2 and floundering nearly as badly as Chris Carter post- X Files.
And it failed because it got caught in the SF boom of the time, and compared to a real heavyweight piece of tv like the remodelled Battlestar Galactica it looks pretty silly.
I’d agree with the recommendations for Deadwood (most tragic ratings casualty in the history of tv) and True Blood (so much better than the books).
But if you want something really good from the same time that lasted four series and was cut short in it’s prime, FarScape is the way to go.
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I’m not normally into SF, so I had my doubts about Firefly. But I couldn’t disagree with you more about it, and I think all the actors are terrific. I recently saw Nathan Fillion in something else and thought he was awful, but I like him in this. It feels like nobody is actually “the star” of the show, and I like that.
Never saw Buffy but tried watching Doll House once – total ick.
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You gave upon True Blood about three episodes too soon. The series doesn’t really kick off until Bill give his speech to the Descendants of Our Glorious Dead.
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Frankly, if a series takes seven episodes to “kick off” then it’s a waste of time. Besides, I don’t like any of the characters. And Sookie makes me want to throw things at the tv screen. Bad writing too.
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Mash!
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Oh yeah! And the Rockford Files.
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Ooh yes, the Rockford files 🙂
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Me like very much.
I think I watched Serenity first – found the Blu Ray in the Bargain Bin. Later I acquired the Firefly box. Wouldn’t mind another season or two. There are definitely characters that need to be explored more as Shepherd Book. Operative turned good?
I liked Jewel Staite more as Kaylee than as dr Jennifer Keller in Stargate Atlantis. But that series sucked anyway.
Battlestar Galactica is way better. The characters are more complex and there are no easy fixes to end an episode happy.
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Oh, and everyone I know really rates The Wire, but we’re still only on episode 2 – although we plan to see the rest. Eventually.
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I’ve watched all five seasons twice. It’s brilliant.
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Fans of Mythbusters have probably seen this clip – but it’s interesting, funny and thought provoking – highly recommended.
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I loved Firefly too, but I loved Dollhouse as well -gutted that it got cancelled. Not into vampire stuff at all though. Now the Rockford Files…that is sheer class! I was watching an episode in my jim-jams over breakfast this very morning – happy days 🙂
I couldn’t get into Battlestar Galactica at all but I am really enjoying the prequel Caprica. Anyone else watching it?
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I know what you mean about vampires. Last vampire I enjoyed watching was Barnabas Collins – remember Dark Shadows? I was about 12 at the time.
Watched Serenity this evening. I remember quite liking it the first time round, but having seen the series I have to say the series is better.
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the series is much better than the film, I’m glad you got the chance to compare
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LOVE Caprica – it’s just beautiful, isn’t it? Except for the damned cliff-hanger season end. I love the combination of old and new that is intertwined in that show.
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Well, I’m so out of touch with television shows. I’ve never heard of Firefly. One of my absolutely favorite shows ever was West Wing, I still miss it. I also loved Star Trek Deep Space Nine and wish that it was still on.
Mostly I don’t have a lot of time for Television viewing. There is way too much to do outside.
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I loved Firefly – I’ve been a Joss Whedon/Nathan Fillion fan since their Buffy days.
And I, too, can recommend Deadwood (sadly, also another one which was canned before its time), Rome and The Wire. All addictively excellent.
🙂
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To be fair, Deadwood didn’t have much further to go. Shortly after the events portrayed at the end of series 3, 90% of the town burned down and most of the major movers and shakers (including Swearengen and Bullock) left for pastures new.
TV series I’ve enjoyed most in the last half decade would be;
Spooks – series 1 and 2. Badly off the boil after that.
Breaking Bad
Burn Notice (Rockford fans in particular should give it a go)
Fringe
Glee (don’t be fooled by the High School Musical look. It has a heart blacker than a lump of coal)
I’m hearing very good things about Sons of Anarchy and Treme, the new series from David Simon. Don’t be tempted by John From Cincinnatti, David Milch’s follow up to Deadwood. Navel gazing of the worst type.
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I totally love this show and was ticked that they didn’t’ even get through one season before cancellation. Nathan Fillion just rocks my world (and he’s from Edmonton).
I ADORE Battlestar Galactica, the new version. It’s just so good, Az. Very deep, very complex, it deals with complex issues and has excellent character development, and it actually addresses a lot of very timely issues in our own society. I can’t say enough good things about it. There is way more to it that just being a run-of-the-mill sci-fi.
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